So let’s have a refresher course. Newspapers were delivered every morning to our front door steps by the paper boy or paper girl. They were filled with news articles about the latest events in our local area, state, nation and the world. They also contained feature articles, e.g., an in-depth look at a timely topic, individual or institution.  There was an editorial section with letters to the editor and opinion and op-ed pieces. And there were advertisements.

So what’s the takeaway for social media? I suggest organizing your social media efforts just as if you were publishing a newspaper. Consider your “likes” or followers just like people who might have subscribed to your newspaper. But instead of picking up the newspaper from their door step every morning, they’re logging on to their computers or looking at their Facebook mobile app to see what you have published for that day.

Just like the newspaper, your social media efforts need to be a combination of news and feature articles as well as advertisements or self-promotions. A newspaper that only has news articles won’t succeed because it may be considered boring if there are no human interest stories to appeal to the heart strings as well as the head. It also needs some advertisements because it needs revenue. But a newspaper that is only filled with advertisements won’t make it either. Readers will be turned off.

Social marketers can learn from the newspaper model to formulate their own strategies for success. I usually recommend the 3-3-3 plan: 1/3′rd of the posts can be about news for your particular industry or niche; 1/3′rd can be news/human interest stories shared from referral sources or partners; and the last-third can be self-promotion about your organization or brand. Also sprinkle in some blog posts and “personality” that portrays you and the people who work in your organization.  But it is really important that you not focus solely on promoting your brand. You want engagement and you won’t get it if you only post about yourself.

Remember Accentuate the Positive, that classic 40′s-era song that spread a positive message during a dark period before the end of World War II?

Eliminate the negative, accentuate the positive, don’t mess with Mr. In-Between: these three lines all have applicability when you are trying to present a positive image to your potential customers. Even if their doctor refers them to your clinic or agency, many patients are going online to get a sense of the type of fertility provider you are before they make an appointment. This is all well and good if they are reading accolades and positive tributes to your expertise in helping them fulfill their dreams. But what about the not so positive ones? How will they react to them?

I am often asked by clients about how they can eliminate critical or derogatory remarks on consumer review Websites (Yelp, RateMDs,Vitals, etc.) or how they can monitor what patients are saying about them on popular message boards. They want to know if it is possible toeliminate the negative.

The Internet and social media have given patients a vehicle to express their opinions about your services, usually anonymously. Of course you can’t stop patients from expressing their opinions (assuming they are not committing libel); plus, you want their positive reviews to circulate around the Web.  You could hire a reputation management company to attempt to “push” down the negative comments in the search results and replace them with new favorable content. But this method does not work for patent and consumer health Websites where the negative reviews will remain and may drown out the impact of the good ones. These sites have policies about particularly offensive comments and you can try to contact them to see if you can respond. However, as health care providers, you must be particularly sensitive and vigilant about not violating patient confidentiality.

As for patient message boards (and whether any fertility provider should be participating in them in the first place unless they are explicitly allowed), that is an article for another day.

So what is an honest fertility provider, trying to provide the best results and service possible, to do?

1) Be realistic: Understand that no matter how hard you strive to get every patient pregnant and for them to have an excellent experience at your practice, occasionally you will have patients who unfairly judge you when they can’t achieve their dream. Not being successful with infertility treatment can be especially traumatic and expressing their anger through criticism can be considered a natural response for patients/clients. Patients are people and some people will never be satisfied, no matter to what lengths you go to help them. Despite this maxim, the patient/customer STILL is ALWAYS RIGHT.

2) Learn from criticism: Recognize that negative reviews can be a great learning opportunity that will help you become a better service provider. It is easy to become myopic about what you do and receiving a critique may be the impetus you need to improve your operation.

3) Be proactive and head off problems at the pass: Have an indication of which patients may be dissatisfied with your services and try to be proactive with them. In the infertility field, we are dealing with people’s most precious dreams and aspirations. Provide avenues for them to express their feedback through periodic customer surveys, suggestion boxes or their modern equivalent, and other ways to solicit their feedback. If you or your staff have identified a patient/client who is dissatisfied, give them opportunities to vent. Often, all they are looking for is someone who will treat them with respect and compassion while validating their feelings. Remember, a satisfied client might tell a few people about their experiences with you, but according to research, a dissatisfied one will talk to 19 others on average about how you did them wrong. I often see identical negative reviews on multiple physician review sites. Validation could have prevented this explosion of anger.

4) Solicit positive feedback: Remind patients that you welcome their testimonials, letters and recommendations and offer them with incentives to provide you with these.

Are bad customer reviews a deal breaker? Not necessarily if they are offset by the positive ones. Savvy consumers know that not everyone will be satisfied. In fact, I tend to be skeptical when any type of product or service receives only positive reviews and not an occasional negative one.

Would love your feedback about this article. Is it useful? What else could I have mentioned. Email me at terri@terridavidsoncommunications.com.

So I can stop describing the negative because most likely you are living and working in that reality, to one degree or another. You don’t need to hear more about the problem; you need information about how your organization can meet the challenges of these new economic conditions. Many are taking action. Various clinics are responding to this crisis by developing creative financing packages and discounted services, recognizing that price is a determining factor in their marketing strategy. Others are finding common ground and community and discovering the benefits of social media by connecting on Facebook and Twitter. These are just two examples of how the fertility field is innovating and thinking out of the box.

Regardless of the current state of your practice, you can move forward to assure your success now and in the future. You have the ability to transform this “crisis” into opportunities you never conceived of before.

What if you were to take a more holistic, bigger picture view? Maybe the next time you think about the competition, you’ll be wondering how they can help you increase business and profitability. What if you put on rose-colored glasses and looked at your competition as:
1) A source of inspiration, motivation and ideas: I’m not saying you should copy what your competition is doing, but I am sure you can learn from them. I know I do. My competition motivates me to perform my job better and keeps me on top of my game. They get my competitive and creative juices flowing and I am very grateful for that. Of course, I can do this without them, but a little push in the right direction never hurts.
2) Your potential business partner: Today’s competition may be tomorrow’s business partner. I have seen this occur many times in my career, i.e., when two hospitals combined and their respective fertility clinics did as well or during other types of mergers and acquisitions. That is why it is important to always be respectful and collegial with all the professionals in your vertical market niche. Bad mouthing, rumor spreading and snubbing are never appropriate nor does it make sense in an environment when roles and boundaries are constantly changing. As a small business owner, I always view my competitors as potential business partners. I never know when I might need their specific expertise or help on a particular project.
3) A way to clarify your brand: Often watching the competition can help clarify your own vision and brand by redirecting you to follow another path or a particular niche/area of expertise. Just because the crowd is moving in a certain direction does not mean you and your company necessarily want to go there.

If you are running a race you want to put on blinders. If you keep looking back at the horse behind you, you may first lose focus and then the race. But if you have a clear strategy and goal and do the necessary work to be a market leader, chances are you will meet your objectives and beat your biggest competitor — yourself.

Need to learn how to live with the competition? Check out this great story from Parade Magazine about tennis champions Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and their intense rivalry yet enduring friendship. Pretty inspiring.

Once you have reviewed and evaluated the other “P’s” of the Marketing Mix, it is time to decide which techniques will work best to increase business and brand awareness. In fact, at this point, choosing the right techniques will be easy because you will have gained a thorough understanding of the marketplace, developed a great product or service that adds real value for your customers, priced it correctly, and are providing it by customer-focused employees in a location that your customers can easily access.

Market research also will have provided you with key data on the best ways to reach your potential customers. Once you decide and implement a technique, it is imperative you stay the course while continually monitoring the effectiveness of the tactic.

Continually evaluate your product or service by obtaining advice from the group who matters most: your customers. Frequent, easy to complete customer satisfaction surveys; focus groups; suggestions boxes; and other techniques are just some of the methods you can use to help build a better mousetrap. 

Correct pricing can be one of the most perplexing components of the marketing mix. Companies need to cover their costs and make a profit, but they must also be competitive and meet market demand and expectation. Good market research will provide essential clues to solving the pricing riddle. At whatever the price, customers must perceive a value to your product or service, or they won’t buy it.

For many businesses, place is one of the most important aspects of the marketing mix. Restaurants, stores, medical offices and similar establishments need to be in the right location to attract the right customers. Many companies use distribution networks and/or a sales force, so location is a less important consideration for them. For others, the world wide Web has become their “place,” offering an immense, new source of customers where the power of the Internet sells their services or products. And a few lucky companies have a wonderful reputation and fiercely loyal customers who would travel to “the ends of the earth” to purchase the product or service.

“Place” can be a powerful tool for expanding your market. For example, health care providers can develop satellite services in distant locations that provide basic services while attracting patients who will need more advanced care at the main facility.

Your employees who interact with customers can contribute to your success or failure. It’s your choice.

Your company can produce a great product or service that is exactly what your target market wants and needs and which is priced right and promoted with ease. But your downfall happens when the public interacts with your employees. This is why excellent customer service is a necessity, not an accessory.

This is especially true in the service industry where employees are “producing” as they communicate with customers. Instilling a “customer is always right” attitude needs to be a consistent them that starts with the company president and comes full circle to the employee who answers the phone or cleans the floor. Don’t take it for granted.